[songhee7]

Hi everyone,

I’ve passed 3 sections and now I’m waiting on Reg. score.

I’m planning to send out my resume staring June when I get back to the states.

My questions are,

1) I would like to start with an auditing sector and get a license in 2-3 years, then decide which sector (tax, audit, consulting, etc) I would fit the best. I was wondering how other people decide which field they want to specialize in.

2) I’m Korean and moved to the states 7 years ago and have 5 years non-accounting business experience in the south. I have an undergraduate degree in BA, and took accounting classes to earn credits necessary to sit for CA CPA exam last year. Without having a dgree in the states, is it almost impossible to get a job in an accounting firm? Or do I still have chances if I get CPA certificate? I speak some Japanese besides English and Korean and I wonder if this would give me some advantages.

And shouldn’t I even consider applying for big 4 because of my education background?

3) There are $3000~$5000 salary increase once an employee passes CPA exam. If I already have passed the exam and get hired, do accounting firms add those CPA incentive into my salary?

I really appreciate people reading my questions. Your answers will help me a lot though.

[Anonymous]

If you are trying to get hired at a big 4 your have to choose your path audit or tax at the beginning, maybe some firms let you move around but it seems pretty “set in stone” once you choose as the 2 paths are different. If you have a degree from another country that is valid then you should be fine and even then if you have your cpa and some experience it might not matter. In the states its a BIG plus if you speak another language, especially if there are clients near your office that use the languages you know. 2nd or 3rd languages are very good. Also, most of the time if you pass the cpa while at a big 4 they give you a bonus 3000-5000 as a one time bonus, not a salary raise. If you have a cpa coming into the big 4, it will probably help you get a job and maybe make your starting salary a little higher. GL

[PursuitCPA]

its very political and difficult to get into the big 4.

CPA EXAM - Passed

[songhee7]

Thank you so much, Dobat.

Your answer really clears my mind and gives me confidence.

By the way, how do you guys choose whether you are a ‘audit' kind of person, or ‘tax' at the beginning before you have no experience? Just ask around, or read and research a lot?

It seems like there is a lot higher demand in market for ‘tax' than ‘audit', but I'm not sure which field I can be more outstanding.

And if I choose ‘tax' at the beginning, how can I earn the ‘auditing hours requirement', which is necessary to get a license?

[Anonymous]

Something that was never mentioned to me in school – you don't HAVE to go “Audit” or “Tax”. Most large firms (especially Big 4) have an Advisory (consulting) arm that you can get into as well. I am in this area at a Big 4. The world isn't black and white with “Tax” or “Audit”…there's a ton of grey in there too. Neither of the two really fit what I wanted to do, Advisory is perfect for me!

As for the hours – no worries, Big 4 will shift you to an Audit engagement for a period of time to get the hours in. I am facing the same issue – I have no Public audit experience (just govt and I can't make my particular experience count). Once these exams are done with, I'll work with the scheduler to get myself on something that'll count for my certification.

Just realize that staff can get loaned in or out – for example, Advisory folks go over to Audit, and Audit folks at times come over to Advisory. You aren't stuck. You can also do a permanent transfer later on – that occurs a lot too. A bunch of our Advisory folks came from Audit initially.

[Anonymous]

There really is no true way to know if you are an audit or tax person without really working both…maybne your are both and maybe you aren't either of the two options haha. Maybe during your 1st year you can try out tax/audit if you got hired under the opposite service line, im not sure though. Either way its a good place to be. Also, getting hired isn't really political, the matter is more about whether the interviewer and other people working at the firm actaully like you and can see working with you as a decent/good time. Maybe advancing up after many years is more political but the intial hiring is not, have good grades/degree be able to carry a conversation with whoever you meet at the firm and the hiring people will ask those who conversed with you if you were “good”…and you will probably get hired.

[Anonymous]

right dobat….I've often heard “if you've made it in to the interview, we know you're competent – the interview is to determine if we'd like to work with you”.

Also, realize times are tough, and Big 4 certainly aren't hiring like they used to. You may have to be patient and just keep trying. It does help if you know someone personally inside the organization to help push you through the hiring process.

[Vespa]

@songhee7

Will you need sponsorship? If so, some of the Big 4 have kind of stepped out of that arena due to the costs but others might be willing to take you on.

With respect to the other questions, I agree with what the others have said. There truly is no way to know “audit” or “tax” until you have tried it and there is an abundance of other accounting industry jobs out there which are neither audit or tax.

Regarding the $5k bonus, I am highly doubtful they will award the bonus if you've already completed the exams prior to your hire date. Firms tend to offer low base salaries in conjunction with a sign-on bonus and if you already have passed the exams your sign-on bonus may have already awarded you for making it this far. Good luck!

FAR - 78
AUD - 86
REG - 77

[songhee7]

Thank you SO MUCH you guys.

All of what you guys wrote here is very valuable information for me.

To answer to Vespa, I'm a permanent resident and don't need sponsorship.

I'm targeting medium or small size accounting firms, but the most difficult part is to get a chance to go into a face to face interview I believe. A lot of other people are saying that I must get a degree in the states. They're telling me to go to grad school and get MAcc since I already have BA from Korea. If that is the reality, I guess I should get myself prepared to go to grad school instead of looking for a job at this point, haha. I was actually planning to gat my masters 2-3 years later but maybe I have to switch the order and get a degree first, ugh. Life is so hard!

I think I was a lot happier when I was just studying for this CPA exam. I only had one goal to achieve back then~

[Anonymous]

I really dont see the difference between a ba here and korea it cant be that much different?

[PursuitCPA]

I know since if you have a BA or BS in the USA you cant get a job so it doesn't matter. Hate to break the news to you but this still is a recession and worse possibly a depression in the job market.

CPA EXAM - Passed

[Anonymous]

PursuitCPA –

While I agree, with patience and persistence jobs can be found. The Big 4 I work for brought on campus hires this year. I have two Staff I's that were brought on in January on the engagement I am on.

[PursuitCPA]

I wonder what the % of non-campus hires they brought on its probably close to 5% (Wink wink, handshake, family member networking thing)

I could pass the CPA get a MBA and a Macc and they wouldn't care

CPA EXAM - Passed

[Anonymous]

yeah…most of the hiring is thru the campus stuff. the recruiters basically have hiring system/networks thru each school and you apply thru that system while you attend the school, so maybe getting the macc would be beneficial as you would actaully get your resume looked at since you would and a good gpa paired with you knowing another language= interview.

[Vespa]

@songhee7

I think the plan to go small first would probably work. With your credential, they're willing to give you a fighting chance to prove yourself. Whereas the larger firms can afford to be a bit selective initially and tend to go with campus recruits for entry level positions.

If I were you, I'd contact a local finance/accounting recruiting firm and lay out your facts. They'll have a pretty good idea of what your options are.

FAR - 78
AUD - 86
REG - 77

[songhee7]

I totally agree with Atrus on the fact that even under depressed econimic environment, jobs can be found with patience and persistence. Tks.

I was very glad to hear all different voices from different aspects though. I'm not too excited with the job situation but I'm not pessimistic either.

I'm going to start applying for small firms. But in the meantime, I kind of want to go and get my masters in accounting before I start my new career. I studied for this CPA exam for about 1 year and I really enjoyed it. Maybe I should continue this eager study mood and study some more at grad school. That way I can take advantage of the on- campus recruiting system and build some network as well.

Since I'm not an accounting major and I only have years of non-accounting business experience, it wouldn't be a waste of time right? I'm just trying to see a big picture and give myself various options.

I really like this website because I get very sincere and useful replies. Again, I thank all of you guys spending time reading my questions and commenting on them!

[Author]

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